Colson Montgomery went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, and the Chicago White Sox held on for a 7-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Andrew Benintendi finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for Chicago, which won its third straight game and the opener of a three-game series.
Brooks Lee homered and tallied three RBIs to lead Minnesota. Kody Clemens added a solo home run, and top prospect Walker Jenkins singled in his big-league debut.
White Sox right-hander Grant Taylor (7-2) pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. He allowed one hit, walked none and struck out three. Starter Luis Castillo allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk over four innings of work.
Twins right-hander Dean Kremer (2-5) allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits over four innings. He walked three and struck out three.
White Sox left-hander Bryan Hudson pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.
The White Sox opened the scoring with four runs in the top of the first.
Benintendi ripped an RBI single to center to start the scoring. Two batters later, with runners on first and third and two outs, Montgomery stepped to the plate and belted a three-run homer to right field to make it 4-0.
Minnesota responded with three runs in the bottom of the first to cut the deficit to 4-3.
After Luke Keaschall hit a leadoff single, Lee hit a two-run homer to right-center field. Two batters later, Clemens hit a solo homer to right.
The Twins evened the score at 4-all in the bottom of the second. Trevor Larnach hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on Lee’s two-out single.
The White Sox reclaimed a 5-4 lead in the top of the third. Benintendi doubled to left, driving in Munetaka Murakami.
In the fourth, the White Sox increased their advantage to 6-4 when Tristan Peters scored on a passed ball by Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers.
Another Twins miscue gave Chicago a 7-4 lead in the eighth. Right-hander Travis Adams threw a wild pitch in the dirt that bounced away from Jeffers, and Chase Meidroth took advantage by sprinting home from third base to score.
